Extenuating Circumstances
by Erana
Summary: Rachel goes to Yemen to help Chandler, and they both discover something unexpected.
1. Default Chapter

A/N: Though I love Monica and Chandler, I've always wanted to see a Chandler/Rachel fan-fic. I've never found one I liked, though, so I figured I'd try writing my own. This takes place immediately after "The One With All the Rugby".  
  
******  
Extenuating Circumstances  
by Erana Zeitler  
  
Chapter One  
  
The sound of the telephone ringing pulled Ross from a hot dream of Rachel, Emily and Carol having a threesome for his benefit. Moaning at being so rudely interrupted, and trying not to consider the possible implications of his dream, he glanced over at the clock by his bedside table. The red numerals informed him that it was four in the morning. Immediately concerned, he rubbed a hand over his eyes as he reached blindly for the phone with the other. He knew no one would call him at this ungodly hour unless there was a serious emergency.  
  
"Hello?" he mumbled into the telephone, sitting up and turning on the lamp next to his bed.  
  
"Ross?" the voice on the other end of the line sounded extremely far away; the static crackling rudely in his ear made it hard to decipher who he was talking to. "Ross, you there?"  
  
"Yeah, I'm here. Who is this?" he asked, yawning.  
  
"It's Chandler," his friend answered, the words muffled by a faint hissing on the line.  
  
"Chandler?" he repeated, blinking in surprise. "What the hell are you doing calling me at four in the morning?"  
  
For a long moment there was no answer, and Ross wondered if maybe Chandler had gotten disconnected. Then, "I need your help. I didn't realize it was so early there."  
  
"There?" Ross echoed. "Where are you?"  
  
Chandler gave a half-laugh before responding, "I'm in Yemen, actually."  
  
"Yemen? What... Oh my God! You actually *went*? Are you insane?"  
  
"She wouldn't leave!" Chandler protested, annoyed. "I tried sneaking back out after getting on the plane, but she was still there by the window! What else was I supposed to do?"  
  
"I don't know... tell her the truth, maybe?"  
  
"Look, I only have about fifteen minutes on this calling card, so would you mind saving the lecture for later, *Dad*?"  
  
Ross sighed, running a hand through his hair impatiently. "Fine. So what, do you need me to call you in sick for work tomorrow or something?"  
  
"It's a *little* more complicated than that," Chandler replied, sheepishly. "The ticket to Yemen maxed my credit card, and I don't have enough on me to get back. Plus I sort of got into an accident while trying to find a hotel."  
  
Ross's eyes widened at Chandler's reluctant confession, the concern he felt at the ringing of the phone returning. "Are you okay?"  
  
"Oh, yeah, I'm fine," Chandler quickly assured him. "The thing is, though, they uh - they won't let me out of the hospital by myself."  
  
"The hospital? What happened?" Ross demanded.  
  
"Did you miss the part where I said I only had a few minutes left on this card?" Chandler asked sarcastically. "Can you help me out or not?"  
  
"No," Ross replied, wincing as he remembered that he only had another few days before Emily was returning to London. He didn't want to lose a second of time with her if he could help it. "I-I can't go there myself... but I guess I could pay for Joey to fly down there. That'd work, right?"  
  
"Yeah," Chandler sighed, relieved. "I'll pay you back, I swear. It's just that I still haven't paid off the entertainment unit I got for Joey, so my accounts a little on the empty side, otherwise I could've paid myself."  
  
Ross shrugged to himself as he looked around on the nightstand for a pen and piece of paper. "Don't worry about it," he said dismissively, triumphantly grabbing a pencil from his desk drawer. "Alright, where are you? You know the address?" Chandler recited an address and Ross obediently wrote it down. "I'll talk to Joey first thing in the morning, okay?"  
  
"Thank you *so* much," Chandler said gratefully.  
  
"You going to tell me what happened now?" Ross asked, his voice rising slightly. "Are you really okay?"  
  
"I've been better," Chandler admitted ruefully. "It's kind of a long story, though, and I'm sure you're tired. Don't worry, you'll get to hear all about it as soon as I get back."  
  
Ross shook his head, laughing slightly. "All this just to get away from Janice... you're insane, you know that?"  
  
"Hey, I never planned on actually *going*!" Chandler protested defensively, then sighed. "You try breaking up with her and see if you wouldn't get on the plane, too."  
  
"Whatever, dude," Ross replied, amused.  
  
"I'll see ya in a few days," Chandler said, and before Ross could get in another word the phone went dead. He looked at the clock again, then sighed and shut the light off. Rolling over, he fell back asleep immediately.  
  
* * * * *  
  
  
Ross overslept that morning, so it wasn't until after work that he was able to catch up with Joey and everyone else at Central Perk. He filled them in on Chandler's early morning phone call, then turned his attention to Joey. "So, can you go down there?"  
  
Joey looked stricken. "No," he said, shaking his head worriedly. "I can't! I got a *huge* audition tomorrow. Estelle worked for like eight days straight to get me in there... she'd kill me if I didn't show."  
  
Ross frowned and looked at the girls. "Well, someone's gotta go. We can't just leave him there!"  
  
Rachel sighed and raised her hand slightly. "I'll go," she volunteered. "I was going to quit Bloomingdale's anyway."  
  
Monica looked at her friend curiously. "What about Joshua?" she asked, puzzled.  
  
Rachel shrugged. "What's the point? It's not like he's at all interested in me. I know when to take a hint." Sighing, she added, "Plus his wardrobe's done."  
  
Ross gave her a sympathetic look as he reached into his back pocket to pull out his wallet. "Here," he said, handing her his credit card and a piece of paper. "That's the address."  
  
"Great," Rachel said, with forced enthusiasm. "My dream vacation's finally coming true."  
  
Joey looked back and forth between Rachel and Ross. "So, Yemen actually *is* a country?" he asked, confused.  
  
"Yeah, Joey, it's a real country," Ross said slowly, a note of condescension in his voice.  
  
Joey shook his head. "Weird."  
  
*****  
  
E/N: Please let me know if you think I should keep going, I'd really appreciate it. Also, sorry if the characterizations a little off, this is my first Friends fan-fiction, so I don't really have their voices quite down yet. 


	2. Chapter Two

A/N: Thanks so much for all the feedback on part one. And to those who liked it, but don't like the idea of Chandler/Rachel, this chapter's safe, but you should probably stop reading after that if it really bothers you, since the pairing is kind of the whole point. Sorry. :)  
  
Extenuating Circumstances  
by Erana Zeitler  
  
Chapter Two  
  
Rachel walked down the long hallway of the hospital, her nose wrinkling at the stench of sickness in the air. It was a smell she knew no amount of amonia could ever hide, although it didn't seem like this particular hospital was all that interested in masking the aroma of death. She rounded the corner, her eyes flicking past the numbers on the doors, trying to find Chandler's. Hopelessly lost, she stopped in the middle of the hallway and leaned back against the wall, rubbing her sore shoulder with her hand. The flight had been long, the search for the hospital even longer. To make matters worse, she hadn't seen a single hotel on the walk over, which meant as soon as she found Chandler they'd have to keep looking.  
  
Closing her eyes, she ran a hand through her hair, cursing herself for volunteering for this for the hundredth time. If she hadn't said anything, she knew Phoebe or Monica would've gone, and they'd be the ones stuck in this hellhole instead of her. Sighing, she pushed herself away from the wall and continued walking.  
  
Fifteen minutes later, she finally found the room Ross had written down. Opening the door, she walked in to find seven beds all laid out in a row. She started to walk in, but stopped at the sound of a familiar voice.  
  
"Hey. You're not Joey."  
  
Turning to the bed closest to the door, she smiled in relief when she saw Chandler sitting up, a small smile on his face. "Hi," she greeted. "You just noticing that now?" She moved closer to him, suddenly confused. Other than the white-yellow hospital robe, he looked fine. "What happened?"  
  
Chandler rolled his eyes before responding. "Well, I'd brought pretty much everything with me, since Janice helped me pack. So of course trying to find a hotel while lugging all that around was a bit of a chalenge. And unfortunately, a bit of an attention grabber too." He smiled sheepishly. "Almost ten years in New York City, and I've never been mugged. Five minutes in Yemen, and all I got left is the clothes I was wearing."  
  
"Oh my God," Rachel exclaimed, eyes widening. "You should have said something to Ross on the phone, I would've brought something."  
  
Chandler shrugged, wincing slightly. "Don't worry about it, I got what I was wearing in there," he nodded towards a closet on the other side of the room, "plus this lovely hospital robe, so I'm all set."  
  
"But -- so why are you in here, then?"  
  
"I tried to rescue my suit collection," Chandler explained. "Ended up with three broken ribs instead."  
  
"Well, does it hurt?" Rachel asked worriedly.  
  
Chandler shook his head. "Only when I breathe," he assured her. "How come you're here? Not that I'm not glad to see you, or anything."  
  
Rachel smiled as she sat down on the edge of the bed, putting her small overnight bag down onto the floor. "Joey had an audition, and I was planning on quitting my job anyway. Besides, it's kind of nice to have unlimited spending of Ross's credit card."  
  
Chandler smirked. "Always a good time," he agreed. "So, when are we getting out of here anyway?"  
  
Rachel looked away before answering, "Two days."  
  
"Two days?!" Chandler repeated. "But -- why?"  
  
"Some convention thing is ending tomorrow, there weren't any seats left on the flight back. But hey, it'll give us a chance to see the... uh, the... the sky! You wouldn't want to miss that, right?"  
  
"Oh, yeah, 'cause we certainly don't get enough of *that* at home."  
  
Rachel shrugged. "I should probably keep looking for a hotel," she said. "I'll come back when I find one... you don't need to be walking all over if you can help it."  
  
"There's one about three blocks from here, I aksed one of the doctors," he informed her and she gave a soft sigh of relief. "You want to go now or relax for a few?"  
  
"If you're up to it, I'd rather go now," she answered. "The sooner I get somewhere with an actual bed, the better. You need to tell the doctor you're leaving or -- "  
  
"No, I already told them someone was coming," Chandler assured her, and then grimaced. "I'm just glad they accept American insurance." He looked at her for a long moment and sighed. "Sorry you got stuck coming."  
  
Rachel shrugged dismissively. "Don't worry about it. Like I said, it's an excuse to spend Ross's money. Too bad there aren't any good stores around here, otherwise I'd say we should go get you a new wardrobe."  
  
Chandler grinned. "Well, there's always layovers on the way back."  
  
"Good point," Rachel agreed mischeviously as she stood and extended her hand to help him to his feet.  
  
****  
  
E/N: I know this chapter was a bit slow, it took a little longer than I thought it would to get things moving. Luckily in the next one stuff'll actually *happen* . Let me know what you thought, please, and if the characterization was still alright. Thanks. :) 


End file.
